Road vehicles are an ubiquitous form of transportation the world over. From the biggest metropolises of industrialized nations to rural townships in developing countries, effectively managing traffic has become critical for economic growth and to ensure citizens’ safety and security, not to mention happiness.

Urbanization refers to population shifts from rural to urban areas, resulting in oftentimes radical societal and cultural changes. In many countries, this process has been accelerating over the past several decades, creating or exacerbating a wide range of problems for local governments. Among the biggest, most-difficult issues to address is transportation, because most urban centers were not designed to handle the massive amounts of people who now commute to and from work.